Veronica Mars seems worth it. Riddick seems worth it, but only if Katee Sackhoff shows up. The Hunger Games would be worth it if only Jennifer Lawrence shows up and no one else, and she acts like her usual adorably awkward aw-shucks self.

I saw on my Facebook yesterday that they were unveiling a 'teaser poster' for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. What I saw was.. well, Cap's mighty shield, with most of the paint worn off. Not much to go on. But everything else I've heard about it is encouraging.

Just post the pics of amateur models taking the day off from their shift at the strip club to dress in Cosplay costumes others picked out for them and pretend they would ever talk to you geeks if it wasn't required by the terms of their contract..

Wow. It's been 9 years since I last went to Comic Con (I was working a booth there), and even then, I thought it was getting hijacked by Hollywood and other entertainment industries (such as collectible card games, video games and TV.) I know the sentiment then, as it is now, was that it was one of the worst cons for actual comic book creators to sell their books.

I can't even imagine what it must be like now -- likely a comic book convention in name only. Which is probably better for the attendees, honestly, because the comic book industry hasn't been worth celebrating for a long time.

everything they show at comic con will wind up on the internet the day afterward, so why bother? i suppose once upon a time, going to the convention in person was the only way to experience it, but that's no longer true. most of those panels get recorded and put on youtube. i think the comic con panel for archer was included with the season 3 dvd.

thecpt:Golden age of video game movies is upon us? From those three? Best satirical panel ever!

/reserve that comment until this deus ex movie actually happens//and if it isn't total crap///which it will be

Have hope, Scott Derrickson and Cargill are attached to this thing and have explicitly stated that they want to create an original story set inside the universe and wrapped around the existing story told so far. They even said that they aren't making a video game movie, they are making an extension to the cyber punk universe dues ex created.

Also keep this in mind. The original video movies were made by people who really didn't play video games, we're coming up in a generation of directors and producers who lived breathed and ate video games and also were kids when the bad taste of things like Mario and Mortal Kombat ruined their Saturday afternoon when mom and dad took them to the theater.

What I am saying is that this generation Hollywood making movies now, is going to be making what SHOULD have been on screen.

AverageAmericanGuy:o they close ranks around their favorite authors. Gaiman, Pratchett, Niven, Bradbury, etc. they never expose themselves to anything else, so they have no idea how bad these writers are.

AverageAmericanGuy:Tyrone Slothrop: UNC_Samurai: anfrind: I, for one, would rather go to a convention where I don't have to spend over half my time waiting in line just for a chance to get into one of the popular panels.

I stopped going to SF cons because it turns out that people that go to them are incredible snobs who think that only SF/fantasy is worth reading. They're as bad as music hipsters.

It's really the upper limit in reading difficulty for them. Something like Rushdie or Dostoyevsky would befuddle them.

So they close ranks around their favorite authors. Gaiman, Pratchett, Niven, Bradbury, etc. they never expose themselves to anything else, so they have no idea how bad these writers are.

AverageAmericanGuy:Tyrone Slothrop: UNC_Samurai: anfrind: I, for one, would rather go to a convention where I don't have to spend over half my time waiting in line just for a chance to get into one of the popular panels.

I stopped going to SF cons because it turns out that people that go to them are incredible snobs who think that only SF/fantasy is worth reading. They're as bad as music hipsters.

It's really the upper limit in reading difficulty for them. Something like Rushdie or Dostoyevsky would befuddle them.

So they close ranks around their favorite authors. Gaiman, Pratchett, Niven, Bradbury, etc. they never expose themselves to anything else, so they have no idea how bad these writers are.

How the hell did this tangent appear?

Actually, those are good writers too. But when you have a group of people who call people who don't read their chosen form of literature "mundanes", something's wrong.

And this tangent appeared because UNC_Samurai posted a pic for World Con as an alternative to Comic-Con.

AverageAmericanGuy:Tyrone Slothrop: UNC_Samurai: anfrind: I, for one, would rather go to a convention where I don't have to spend over half my time waiting in line just for a chance to get into one of the popular panels.

I stopped going to SF cons because it turns out that people that go to them are incredible snobs who think that only SF/fantasy is worth reading. They're as bad as music hipsters.

It's really the upper limit in reading difficulty for them. Something like Rushdie or Dostoyevsky would befuddle them.

So they close ranks around their favorite authors. Gaiman, Pratchett, Niven, Bradbury, etc. they never expose themselves to anything else, so they have no idea how bad these writers are.

How the hell did this tangent appear?

As someone who's a huge fan of Rushdie, Dostoyevsky, Pynchon, and others of that ilk, I must say you're full of shiat. Bradbury and Gaiman are both top-notch writers, and Pratchett is consistently funny in a way that few writers can maintain for a single book, much less dozens.

elvindeath:Just post the pics of amateur models taking the day off from their shift at the strip club to dress in Cosplay costumes others picked out for them and pretend they would ever talk to you geeks if it wasn't required by the terms of their contract..

rjakobi:elvindeath: Just post the pics of amateur models taking the day off from their shift at the strip club to dress in Cosplay costumes others picked out for them and pretend they would ever talk to you geeks if it wasn't required by the terms of their contract..

blame schools. if there is one thing that school taught me, it's that "serious" literature sucks balls. every book they ever forced me to read in school was terrible, every serious, important, meaningful book just made me hate reading. you know what made me love to read? stupid adolescent sci-fi novels by keith laumer. i would never even try to read a book by dostoyevsky, because that's the sort of crap they forced me to read in school, so that means it probably sucks.

blame schools. if there is one thing that school taught me, it's that "serious" literature sucks balls. every book they ever forced me to read in school was terrible, every serious, important, meaningful book just made me hate reading. you know what made me love to read? stupid adolescent sci-fi novels by keith laumer. i would never even try to read a book by dostoyevsky, because that's the sort of crap they forced me to read in school, so that means it probably sucks.

That's sad, because Dostoyevsky is pretty great.

On the other hand, you've probably gotten around to Vonnegut who is nominally a sci-fi author but is really head and shoulders above his genre-mates. And that's good.

I have to be honest, I still want to go at least once in my lifetime. It may not be the *Comic* Con it used to be, but I'm a people watcher. Hell one of my favorite things about going to conventions is being able to cosplay and seeing other people's costumes and cosplay. I realize it seems silly to want to spend that much money on what sounds like a giant Halloween party, but it's just one of those things I've wanted to do and have known about since I was a kid. Getting a Comic Con here in Denver was awesome, so I'm even more curious about how San Diego would be.

I watched Europa Report last weekend and really enjoyed about 99% of the film. As a Sci-fi film that isn't about monsters or aliens, and instead focuses on a real sense of scientific exploration and isolation, it was a welcome entry to the genre. It's not perfect, but the flaws were forgivable.

The huge farking problem with SDCC is that it's about movies now, to the point that it's actually unfriendly to other forms of fandom. If you want to go because there are artists and creators there, good luck getting past the 80,000 people who are there because Johnny Depp might make a five minute appearance at a panel. I know it's an awesome spectacle, but in my life as a nerd-con going person I've found that celebrity appearances, autographs and movie pre-release promotions are pretty much always the lamest way to spend one's time.

NewbornRook:Getting a Comic Con here in Denver was awesome, so I'm even more curious about how San Diego would be.

Every con is a bit different. San Diego at this point is about Hollywood promotion. Wizard-run cons are giant autograph festivals, though at least the one in Chicago has the largest artist's alley of any comic convention. ReedPop Cons (NYCC, C2E2) tend to be expansive in terms of content and well organized from a visitor perspective. I suspect WonderCon is probably a better overall experience for Cosplay and con-going in general since it's more squarely focused on nerd things.

NewbornRook:I have to be honest, I still want to go at least once in my lifetime. It may not be the *Comic* Con it used to be, but I'm a people watcher. Hell one of my favorite things about going to conventions is being able to cosplay and seeing other people's costumes and cosplay. I realize it seems silly to want to spend that much money on what sounds like a giant Halloween party, but it's just one of those things I've wanted to do and have known about since I was a kid. Getting a Comic Con here in Denver was awesome, so I'm even more curious about how San Diego would be.

A few things to consider that might not be too far from Denver:

1. This year's WorldCon (LoneStarCon 3) will be in San Antonio over Labor Day weekend.2. Next year's Westercon will be in Salt Lake City over 4th of July weekend.3. Since next year's WorldCon will be in London, there will be a separate North American Science Fiction Convention (NasFic) prior to that WorldCon either in Phoenix or Detroit (site selection will take place at LoneStarCon).

None of the aforementioned conventions feature nearly as much cosplay as Comic-Con, but they do attract a few highly skilled cosplayers, many of whom make their own costumes.

"Nominally"? This is one of those, "It's good, so it can't actually be genre fiction," things, isn't it?

My main reason for avoiding literary fiction, personally, is that it's a dead genre. Nothing interesting, inventive, or meaningful has come out of it in about twenty years at this point, probably longer. Yes, one could read nothing but the classics and never run out of things to read, but in terms of newly released fiction, genre fiction has stolen all of the great authors away from the literary world. And it doesn't really matter what genre we're talking about, either, whether it's spec-fic, crime, etc., there's more interesting things happening outside of the lofty realm of literary fiction than there is inside of it.

t3knomanser:AverageAmericanGuy: Vonnegut who is nominally a sci-fi author

"Nominally"? This is one of those, "It's good, so it can't actually be genre fiction," things, isn't it?

My main reason for avoiding literary fiction, personally, is that it's a dead genre. Nothing interesting, inventive, or meaningful has come out of it in about twenty years at this point, probably longer. Yes, one could read nothing but the classics and never run out of things to read, but in terms of newly released fiction, genre fiction has stolen all of the great authors away from the literary world. And it doesn't really matter what genre we're talking about, either, whether it's spec-fic, crime, etc., there's more interesting things happening outside of the lofty realm of literary fiction than there is inside of it.

Absolutely true about literary fiction. Especially so since David Foster Wallace died a few years back.